loop quantum gravity

loop quantum gravity

Penn State University Professor of Physics Abhay Ashtekar, holder of the Eberly family chair in physics and director of the Penn State Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, was honored at the Loops 11 Conference "Celebrating 25 years of Loop Quantum Gravity," in May of 2011 on the main campus of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas in Madrid, Spain. The conference was scheduled to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Ashetekar's publication of a landmark scientific paper that sparked the loop quantum gravity revolution within the field of spacetime physics. The celebration featured an exhibit with loop quantum gravity-inspired art by Italian artist Luca Pozzi. During the conference, Ashtekar gave two major public lectures on loop quantum gravity.

The question has long frustrated cosmologists, both amateur and professional.

Though Einstein's theory of general relativity does an excellent job of describing our universe almost back to its beginning, near the Big Bang matter becomes so dense that relativity breaks down, says Penn State physicist Abhay Ashtekar. "Beyond that point, we need to apply quantum tools that were not available to Einstein."